Fresh back from MacWorld
I don't want to sound like a fanatic. But since seeing it, this iPhone has had that "fanatic" effect on me today. I don't know where to start.
The phone is about a 1/2 inch thick. They would put it in a glass case and teased us. It looks like an iPod without the "click wheel." They have eliminated the click wheel technology to introduce the 3rd generation interface "point & pinch" which makes the device fully touchscreen. They have built some new intuitive features into the touch response. Apple's conducting research for the past 5-years on touch/response on touchscreens. Their goal was to elimate the clumsy experience of tapping/hitting the wrong key or button when you're interactinmg with a touchscreen display. This thing is hyper-intuitive and well thought out as Apple has prepared a nearly flawless interface that compensates for clumsy fingers and for those of us who have not completely felt comfortable using a completely touchscreen device.
It has 3 sensors on it. 1) one deterimines when your face is close to it while on a phone call. This sensor turns off the video display and does not permit you to inadvertantly touch buttons while on a call; 2) the second sensor collects ambient light and adjust the brightness of the video display depending if you are outside or indoors; 3) the third sensor detects motion. If you turn the iPhone horizontally (landscape) or vertically -- it automatically adjust.
The iPhone is built to be 3 devices in 1. An iPod, a Phone and an Internet device. What Apple is not saying is that they have basically given us a Mac computer that is 1/2 inch thick x 5 inches long x 3 inches wide. As I watched the presenter navigating MacOS X During the presentation, the presenter kept on repeating "the new iPhone" brings the desktop experience.
I am certain you can load and run MacOS applications from this phone. However, I would imagine they'd need to be customize to run under the new point & pinch finger interface.
Non-linear voicemail.......Very Cool! You don't ever have to listen to in linear order. They appear on the screen and you pick the one you want to hear first.
Did I tell you this thing has Bluetooth 2.0 and the coolest ear-piece? Of course, it has WIFI 802.11n. This feature alone is unfortunately a Treo killer for me personally.
I sat with a group of about 300 people watching the presentation. Strangely, there was not a lot of applause when the presenter demonstrated something new and never before seen feature on a cell phone. They were quietly awed. They wanted to applause -- but couldn't because they were too captivated by what they were seeing. I turned to look at the faces of some who were seated around me.
I have seen the BlackJack, I have seen the Moto Q, BlackBerry Pearl, Nokia's top of the line and of course the Treos. These are nice phone/PDAs. But make no mistake, there is nothing on the market like the iPhone. I have never seen anything like it. It is leaps ahead of everthing.
I have one critique though. It doesn't have a UMTS radio for Cingular broadband subscription. However, that's not really a problem for me because I wasn't going to pay 49.99/mo for wireless broadband anyway.
I paid 549.00 for my Treo 650 approximately 2+ years ago. This phone will cost 499.00 and 599.00 for the 4Gig and 8Gig versions respectively. They will be released in May. That gives me enough time to save up.